Flipper: Live: Targetvideo77 1980-81

Consummate noisemakers, SoCal's Flipper were never the kind of band you'd put on and rock out to. It was four guys playing Yoko Ono-ish art rock that resulted in more squeals and babbling than verses or choruses. They were punk rock in attitude, if not musically. And as time pushes us further and further from their early '80s "heyday," memories fade. We forget that they represented a cacophony even Sonic Youth couldn't stomach. With this live DVD compiling two shows in Berkeley and San Francisco, Calif., we realize that five minutes of Flipper — let alone 70 — is more than enough for a lifetime. Being shot with multiple cameras and featuring 5.1 Dolby doesn't mean much when a band stands around lazily and lets feedback do most of the aural dirty work. If anything, this footage is affirmation that Flipper were nothing more than a musical virus that should never be revived.